Fuller kicked off her speech by saying how continuously amazed she was every time she visited Ridgecrest and how well it is known.

"I know sometimes you're out here and feel remote, but believe me the actions that you do here are felt around the world," Fuller said.

Fuller outlined her goals for 2013, which included reexamining some of the things she thought she knew.

One of her goals for the new year includes refocusing on the state's gross domestic product.

"I have decided I really need to develop a matrix that holds the state responsible for GDP," she said.

She said that she has come up with eight components and indicators for each of them to show whether a particular policy increases or decreases the state's GDP and the four counties she represented.

"I have four counties in my senate area and we've been talking about jobs, but we never seem to get private sector jobs," Fuller said. "We seem to continue to get the promise of private sector jobs but instead people are leaving the state."

She said in order to overcome breakdown in communication along the line, she would enlist industry leaders for advice that would include the state’s sales, not just inside the state but on the world court.

“This community knows a lot about that,” Fuller said.

She said her policies would remain much the same at the local level, despite the supermajority that the Democratic Party had in the state senate.

One of her examples was Tulare County, whose hospital was not reimbursed by the state because the county’s actions.

“The county and the hospital came to me said ‘can you pass a law’ that would help these two hospitals, one in Tulare and the other somewhere else,” Fuller said. She said it required reaching across party aisles, something she’s done for six years in the senate and the state assembly.

She said it was important to work across the aisle when it came to the business aspect of things, as everyone paid into the economy regardless of party.

Fuller said one of the largest issues this year was the supermajority in the state legislature, especially now that state budgets and expenditure decisions could be passed with a simple majority vote.

“Two years ago we lost the ability to have input on the budget,” she said.

She said that there were several fears out there, from Proposition 13 being attacked to other things.

“We need to start making connections about how it’s important to bring in more money than you spend,” Fuller said.

Page 2 of 2 - She said the biggest challenge was to help the community realize that, even with a GPD as large as California’s, money wouldn’t last forever.

“We have huge resources that we can waste, and we are,” Fuller said. “But not forever.”

She said not much else changed in the state legislature. It would be a wait-and-see approach with how well “Gov. Brown and his Democratic children can get along with the amount of money they have.”

One of the questions fielded was how President Obama’s healthcare plan would affect California.

Fuller said that while she was not as connected to the issue as others at the federal level, she had done her own research.

“It’s like any other business,” Fuller said. “As soon as you add any other costs, then you have to shift your costs somewhere else.”

That would mean employers paying more for healthcare and shrink their workforce.

Students from Christian Home Educators of Ridgecrest homeschool group asked whether the shooting that happened Friday at a Newtown, Conn. school would impact Second Amendment and gun control policies.

On Friday, 27 people died in a shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, including 20 children.

Fuller said it would likely impact things on a national and local level. The Semcond Amendment would likely stay intact, but policies would likely change based on different states and different needs.

Fuller has served in the state senate since Dec. 2010, succeeding termed-out Roy Ashburn.

Fuller also swore in the RRWF’s new officers for 2013 and 2014.

The oath was administered, swearing in Judy Weaver as president, Heather Weaver as first vice president, Lois Beres as second vice president, Martha Jauregui as recording secretary, and as Sharon Anderson.

“This is a great group and a great resource to the community, and a great honor for me to be doing the swearing-in,” Fuller said.